A/N: I don't own the things that belong to Rick Riordan. The scenes with Jason and Nico were really hard to write for some reason. Let me know what you think please.

Hazel cautiously entered the hospital room and her eyes immediately fell upon the sleeping toddler.

"She's beautiful," she whispered, glancing at her brother who stood in the corner. His eyes didn't leave the girl as he nodded in agreement.

"Will you take her?" he asked abruptly.

"Take her? But she's your child!" Hazel protested. Numerous emotions flickered over Nico's face, too fast for her to identify, before he was once again emotionless.

"I can't raise her," he said. "I- I can't."

"But-" she tried.

"Please. Hazel." They locked eyes.

She broke away first. "Of course, Nico. I just think she'd be better off with you. With her dad."

Nico flinched at the word, dad. Hazel realized instantly that he feared that he'd be a terrible father, that he was afraid that the girl would be shaped by other's reactions to him because he was a son of Hades. She understood. But he was so wrong. If it weren't for him, Gaea would have destroyed the world. He had managed to convince the Greeks and Romans to work together. Nico was so much better than he knew.

Hazel stared at the sleeping child and wondered if he'd ever know.

Caitlin stared at him, eyes bright and cheeks streaked with tears. "Mommy's dead, isn't she?"

Nico couldn't contain his surprise, although he kept his face blank. "Why do you know that?"

She bit her lip. "Mommy said not to tell anyone."

"I'm a friend," he pointed out. "Not anyone."

As if finding his illogical statement acceptable, she nodded in agreement. "I have a funny tickle in tummy when someone dies. Mommy says that the gods need people to fight an impor-" Her nose scrunched as she tried to remember that word. "-important battle and protect everyone else."

Nico was wordless at Lauren's explanation of death and the way Caitlin tripped over her words. Was this normal for a two-year-old?

"Your mom is dead," he finally affirmed. She burst into loud sobs and threw herself at Nico. Within seconds, he t-shirt was soaked with tears and snot, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. He just held her and rocked.

When Caitlin finally calmed, he set her back on the hospital bed.

"Do you know who your dad is?" he asked.

She shook her head and swiped her eyes. "No."

"His sister is going to take care of you now," Nico said. "She-"

"Why can't I be with my daddy?" Caitlin interrupted. "Other kids are with their daddies."

"Your dad…. He can't take care of you," he answered slowly. "He's not a good person to raise you."

"But-"

"Caitlin. You'll love your Aunt," Nico cut her off. "Would I lie?"

They hadn't known each other long enough for Caitlin to make that decision and she'd been asleep for most of that time, but she shook her head 'no' vigorously. The breath caught in his throat at her instant, deep trust.

"You'll love her," Nico repeated and fled to find Hazel.

Hazel wrapped Caitlin up tightly in a thick winter coat to ward off the late February chill in the hospital's parking structure. Nico trailed behind uncertainly, torn between leaving and staying. Less than twenty-four hours and already he was growing attached.

Unacceptable. Besides, soon she'd settle in with Hazel and Frank and forget about him and Lauren.

It was better this way, he reminded himself.

They reached Hazel's Toyota. She tilted her head towards Caitlin when she caught his eye and went around to the driver's seat, leaving Nico to strap Caitlin into a car seat by himself.

Caitlin giggled throughout the whole process, especially when Nico messed up where a strap was supposed to go. He couldn't help the small smile on his own face.

"No one needs to know," he told Hazel, finally finished. She sighed but nodded, trying to catch his eye in the mirror.

"Goodbye, Caitlin," he told his daughter. She grabbed his arm.

"Are you my dad?" she asked, eyes wide, open, so trusting and innocent.

Gently, he disentangled his arm from her grip and stepped away. "Goodbye, Caitlin." He couldn't lie to her.

Nico shut the door on Caitlin's crestfallen, heartbroken face and Hazel's disappointed eyes. His fists clenched in anger at the latter sight. What did she even know? She had Frank. He had… nobody.

He stepped backwards into the shadows and vanished.

The barrier between the Underworld and the human world had thinned after Gaea.

They'd stopped her, but the damage was permanent. Before Gaea, monsters took a year or two to return, but now they were back within two to three months. Nico had accepted the fact before Caitlin, hunting regenerated monsters for a couple of days to the point of exhaustion before he slept for two days straight, but now he embraced it.

It had been a week and half since Hazel had driven away with Caitlin. Nico hadn't slept, had thrown himself at monster after monster. Mentally and physically he was beyond exhaustion, but Caitlin stubbornly stayed in his thoughts.

He blinked. What was he doing here? At Jason's house? Nico turned away to find a shadow- shadow, shadow, he needed a shadow, needed to leave.

"Nico!"

Too late.

He turned to face the Roman demigod.

"Where have you been?" Jason demanded, grabbing his arm. Touch. Physical contact. He hated it, needed it, wanted it. Ever since Cupid eleven years ago, Jason had been his friend, unwaveringly loyal.

Nico didn't deserve it. He'd been rude, cruel, antisocial- was all those things, but Jason brushed it aside and continued to be his friend.

"Hunting," he finally croaked out a reply.

"Pluto, when did you last sleep? Or bathe?" Jason demanded. "You look like shit. Come inside!" He pulled Nico towards his house, ignoring Nico's futile attempts to get the son of Jupiter to release him.

"I'm not a child, Jason," he snarled. "Let me go!"

"Then stop acting like one," Jason merely said, pushing Nico into the house. "Bathroom is down the hall on the left. Clean up. I'll make some food."

They locked eyes in an intense staring contest. Nico looked away first, yielding.

"Fine," he snapped and stormed away.

The shower helped, which grated his already thin nerves. Nico was tempted to shadow away but something stopped him just before he could actually leave.

Jason set down a bowl of macaroni & cheese on the kitchen table for him when he finally left the bathroom. He hesitated before he began to take tentative bites of the food. To his surprise, it was really good, and he was starving, ravenous suddenly. Nico forced himself to continue eating slowly, as if he didn't care.

"So…" Jason began, "Caitlin. Is she your child?"

Nico choked on the unexpected, direct question. Jason thumped him on the back.

"Yes," he finally answered after a brief internal discussion, though he had a feeling that Jason would know the truth anyway. "From the night after- after the wedding." Jason didn't need elaboration on whose wedding. "I didn't know about her- just found out when Lauren died."

"So you're just going to abandon her?" Jason asked.

Nico stood. "Abandon her?" he snarled. "I'm protecting her from myself!" Jason stood and met Nico's eyes unflinchingly.

"And what do you think our fathers thought they were doing when they left us?" he asked lowly. "Wouldn't you have rather had your father in spite of any pain? Don't you think it hurt worse to never know our fathers? Quit being such a coward, Nico."

The air rushed from Nico's lungs. He staggered back a step, confused. "Coward? I'm not a coward! I want Caitlin- She's all I've thought about for the past two weeks! Is Hazel feeding her properly? Is she dealing with her mom's death? Is she crying herself to sleep?" Nico took a deep breath, trying to regain his senses. His head felt heavy, his tongue slow and unsteady, and his limbs uncoordinated like a newborn foal. "But I'm realistic. What kind of life could I give her being the son of Hades? She'd be ostracized and people would pity her for having a dad like me. I can't put her through all the loneliness that I've had to go through! And I had a sister in the beginning!"

"Nico…" Jason sighed, staring at him with compassionate eyes, then paled. "Nico!" Why was he being so loud? Nico saw Jason's panicked face and then his world turned black.